Post Tagged with: Spewing Awesome

Okay, that was harsh. But it’s true. Like it or not, having honest critics who care nothing for your feelings read and give their opinions on your writing is a very, very good thing.

As writers, we deviate from the norm simply by doing what we do. Not many humans have the ability or desire to sit and write much of anything. But then there are those of us who choose to do it. We choose to use words, as a mason uses brick, or a potter raw clay, to craft poetry, or the [hopefully] realistic and interesting dialogue of imaginary people, or even non-fiction essays and instructional literature. We do it without knowing whether or not it will have any effect at all on another person, or the world around us. We do it for the simple love of doing it. Because we can’t NOT do it.

Sounds like a wonderful, organic concept, yeah? While writing for the sake of writing can definitely be incredibly therapeutic, no matter the form, for some of us, there comes a point when the entire experience becomes complicated by the idea of publishing. And this is where too many writers get ahead of themselves (myself included).

I remember the excitement of the first letter of acceptance I received for something I wrote. I was maybe 14 or so, and had sent a short poem I’d written as a school assignment for Earth Day off to the address in one of the tiny ads in the back pages of my “Bop” magazine.

Call me cheesy, but this is one of my all-time favorite songs. Yes I know I'm a sheep, but YOU know you sing along too when it comes on the radio :P
Anyway, if you weren't aware, Journey has a new(ish) lead singer. His name is Arnel Pineda. He grew up as a homeless street kid in Manila. The band actually found him via YouTube, and the story of how it all happened is told in one of the best documentaries I've seen in a while. If you've ever tapped your foot or hairbrush-microphone-in-the-mirror'd to a Journey song, then US law requires you to watch Don't Stop Believin': Everyman's Journey (okay, so that's not true, but you should still watch it).
Rock on \m/

Okay, so maybe I’ve been watching too much MLP with my four-year-old and have begun to channel Pinkie Pie, but I can’t help but be excited. The cover art for my novella came in and I lurve it so hard. It’s simple and striking and just yum.

Anyway, click the “read more” to view, and praise be to the team at Evernight Teen and Sour Cherry Designs :)

I know, I know, I just did this Next Big Thing…thing, wherein I beat you over the head with details about something I’ve spewn (I don’t really care if it’s not a word) from the dark and often puzzling confines of my brain. Well, if you’re in the market for a reason to wear a stylish “I survived Ashley Heckman’s NEXT Next Big Thing” t shirt, it’s your lucky day!

You can all blame the spewer (again, I don’t care if the word doesn’t exist) of awesome, Ms. J. M. Blackman this time, who tagged me with a blurb that made me want to internet sex her like a one night cyber-stand. Our paths just recently crossed, but I can already tell she’s going to end up needing a restraining order against me.

…Too far?

Anyway, the rules, because we live in a society:

FOLLOW THIS FORMAT.

ANSWER THE 10 QUESTIONS BELOW.

SPREAD THE FUN AND TAG5 MORE AWESOME PEOPLE TO PARTICIPATE.Note: I’m a rebel, yo.

IT’S ALSO NICE TO LINK BACK TO THE PERSON. SHARING IS CARING, Y’ALL.

1. WHAT IS THE TITLE OF YOUR BOOK / WIP?

It doesn’t have one *whines*

I fail at titles, so the working one for this story is any reasonable variation of “that Grace thing.”

2. WHERE DID THE IDEA OF THIS BOOK COME FROM?

I literally tweeted one day about wanting to write something about ghosts and reincarnation. I also drew inspiration (more so than usual) from Anne Rice’s book The Witching Hour, which includes a seductive spirit attaching himself to the female descendents of an ancient family of witches.